Brief thoughts on Stockholm Tech Fest that I attended along with some colleagues today. I went there excited to hear more about ”the future of…” things. This was the concept presented in the marketing of the event. The future of transportation, future of retail, future of investing etc.

However, focus was more on ”today´s way of doing things”. Large portions of the day consisted of talking about ongoing phenomena (eg. the Sharing Economy) as well as well-established companies (Uber, Spotify, Klarna). I would have wished for more future scenarios.

Nonetheless, a track that really excited me was "The Future of Finance". During the discussion, it became obvious that the "old" banking sector has huge issues to facing them. Including their lack of self-awareness... No wonder Millenials think the can cope without banks in the future.

Apart from the above, the thing that struck me the most was the lack of connection to sustainability issues. No discussing of how technology could help us consume BETTER, instead of MORE. Or how technology can facilitate for less fortunate people. Instead, I found myself listening to discussions about how my pizza could reach me in 5 minutes instead of 8.

Finally some positive words. The people attending were many and in most cases ”high level”. Well done on that! I also love the American way of hosting conferences - no time limits and you may come and leave as you wish (no shame).